Individuals that have been laid off or fired have the opportunity to be re-trained using government funds. Listen to today's program to learn more about WIA (Workforce Investment Act) and how you can obtain between $5,000-$8,000 for training to upgrade your skills.

Alfreada Brown-Kelly is an author of poetry and professor who lives in Hampton, Virginia. Alfreada is a native of Thibodaux, Louisiana and previously lived in New Orleans, Louisiana for ten years. Alfreada has been writing poetry for many years and has started on a children’s collection called the Victoria E. Kelly Series. Alfreada is a graduate of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia where she received her Master of Science degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice. She is an avid reader who enjoys reading poetry, biographies and Christian and contemporary literature. Transformation of The Mind, Body & Soul is her first book of poetry. Her second book of poetry is The Skin I Am In. Her third book, Why Women Weep, is a women’s anthology that was released in June 2011. Alfreada’s poetry has been featured annually in Ancestral Rites, a poetry anthology published by BookClubEtc. Why Women Weep has also been included in the Women in Academia (WIA) top 20 list (June 2011), Praise Magazine and Hampton Roads My Time magazine, (September 2010 and January 2009). The New Journal & Guide newspaper, Gethsemane Baptist Church 40 Day Journal and Diversity Times newspaper have also featured her poetry. For more information please visit her website at http://alfreadabrownkelly.weebly.com or email her at AlfreadaKelly@aol.com.

Kevin A. Baptists, was born in Boston, Mass. His family is from Trinidad and Tobago. he went to St. Peter Marian and went to ITS TECH for computer aided design. He is 37 year's old. He is a farmer and speaker. He also is an advocate for lymphedema. he was born with it. Lymphedema is the swelling of body limbs due to a blockage in the lymphatic system or due loss of lymph nodes due to surgery or drama.

The Dynamy Youth Academy program is a college-success and leadership program for undeserved youth in the Worcester Public Schools. The program has recently celebrated its 25th year anniversary. We serve up to 60 students, who in the course of four years receive high mentoring, college and career readiness, leadership development, complete internships and community service hours, as well as camping trips.

Ximena Betancur is a Junior in the Youth Academy program and a Junior at Worcester Technical High school.

Emi Golloshi is an alumna of the Youth Academy Class of 2012. Emi is currently at Clark University and wants to study psychology.

Etel Capacchione has been the Youth Academy Program Director since 2010. Etel has a passion for working with young people, mentoring, guiding and helping young people achieve their dreams. Etel takes every chance she has to promote the talent of her young people in the program. A strong advocate for youth, she works tirelessly to make sure that Youth Academy students take advantage of every educational opportunity that is presented to them, as well as encourages youth to get involved in the community. Etel is also proud mom of two young boys, and serves on the Board of Directors at the YWCA.

Recently, state legislators have been introducing legislation that require drug-testing people who receive public assistance, including welfare, unemployment, public housing and Medicaid. These bills are introduced by legislators based on the wrong belief that people who receive public assistance use drugs at a higher rate. This kind of drug testing is unconstitutional, scientifically unsound, fiscally irresponsible and one more way the "war on drugs" is an unfair war on America's most vulnerable populations.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/drug-testing-welfare-recipients

'Proof of Our Flawed Justice System': Man Freed After Almost 30 Years on Death Row

Suppressed evidence validated Glenn Ford's claims of innocence throughout his decades of incarceration

Click the link for more information to ojoin our conversation: You can call in at (347) - 237- 4034

Ivette Olmeda is the program manager of Center for Women & Enterprise of the Central Massachusetts office since 2002. The Center for Women & Enterprise is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and empowering women and men to become economically self-sufficient through business and entrepreneurship. Ivette holds a BS in Business Administration from Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

Ivette Olmeda is the program manager of Center for Women & Enterprise of the Central Massachusetts office since 2002. The Center for Women & Enterprise is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and empowering women and men to become economically self-sufficient through business and entrepreneurship. Ivette holds a BS in Business Administration from Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

January is National Mentoring Month. To celebrate the importance of mentorship WIA-Canada is collaborating with Ryerson University to bring together students pursuing careers in aerospace with women already in the field. This is a time for Mentors and Mentees to come together and share resources. While it’s a women 217;s organization, men are always welcome.

Mentoring can be challenging for a number of reasons – time commitment, compatibility between mentee and mentor, poorly defined expectations, lack of or too much structure, suitable location, etc. Speed mentoring (similar to speed dating) allows for maximized exposure to several individuals in an informal but guided session that is conducive to asking questions, soliciting advice and exploring opportunities – no strings attached!

The success of this program will depend heavily on mentor volunteers. If you are interested in coming, to meet future generations of women in aerospace, to share your personal experiences and to help guide a student please register today.

Can WIA funds be leveraged to assist communities during and after disaster events? How can workforce development organizations provide innovative solutions as part of a disaster response? On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the National Association of Workforce Boards, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Disaster Management (CDM), released a new research report titled The Impact of Extreme Events on Business Organizations: Innovative Approaches to Managing Risk. In this episode of Workforce Central Radio, NAWB CEO Ron Painter interviews Dr. Louise Comfort, the Director of the CDM and author of the report. Drawing on research interviews with nine innovative WIBs who showed leadership in their communities during disaster events, they will discuss the important role workforce boards can take in helping their areas during times of disaster, the policies that should be in place to help maximize efforts, and how they can leverage existing programs and become a bridge between federal disaster programs and municipal/local efforts. Please join us on Wednesday, December 18th for this insightful interview!